1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) and, more specifically, to MEMS-based relays for direct-current (DC) and radio-frequency (RF) electrical cross-connects.
2. Description of the Related Art
MEMS-based relays serve as a viable alternative to conventional mechanical relays. More specifically, MEMS-based relays are more compact and more cost effective than conventional mechanical relays. For RF applications, MEMS-based relays offer relatively low series resistance, substantially no power consumption in ON and OFF states, and relatively low intermodulation distortion compared to that, e.g., in field-effect-transistor (FET)-based relays. As a result, MEMS-based relays using electrical, magnetic, or thermal actuation, with both mono-stable and bi-stable designs are being actively developed.